WITH reference to the article about Blackburn's trams (LET, March 13), my recollections of the trams began when I was four years old.

My mother took me on one from Baxenden to go shopping in Accrington.

I was very small and did not lift my legs high enough on the tram's step, which was iron, and I bumped my knee - which made me howl with pain. The seats were two long rows of polished wooden slats and you sat facing each other on the ride. If the tram slowed down too quickly, you were sent sliding along to the other end.

When the seats were full, there were straps with loops which hung down along the length of the tram from a pole above to support standing passengers.

When it arrived at the terminus in the centre of town, the conductor had to use a pole to transfer the pulley from an overhead rail to another for the return journey.

The tram track being in the centre of the road made it a bit hairy boarding, as you had to make sure the road was clear.

The trams ended a year before I left school, and were succeeded by buses.

B WOODS (Mrs), Manchester Road, Baxenden, Accrington.

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